Officer target of dead rat after testifying against fellow officers

The Baltimore police officer who was labeled a snitch and targeted with a dead rat after becoming a key witness in a criminal case against other cops told the rest of his story to the WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team, uncovering multiple allegations of witness intimidation inside the city Police Department.

Officer Joe Crystal is now on an off-the-grid police assignment. He is a whistle-blower, a key witness against a supervisor, Sgt. Marinos Gialamas, and another officer, Officer Anthony Williams, I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller said.

Miller reported that Williams and Gialamas crossed the line in October 2011 in east Baltimore with the arrest of Antoine Green, a drug suspect who had run into a house to hide. The house belonged to Williams' girlfriend. When Williams showed up, Gialamas ordered the police van transporting Green to stop, Miller reported. Green was taken off the van, taken back into the house and assaulted.

Crystal was at the scene that night, and he told the I-Team he knew what had happened was wrong. He said he tried to report it, but when he called a sergeant he knew to ask for advice, he said he was told to mostly keep quiet.

"He said, 'If they ask you if you helped bring him in the house, tell the truth. But don't them anything else you heard or saw.' He said, 'And don't go to internal because they will just try to get you to rat,'" Crystal told Miller in an exclusive interview.

But Crystal didn't keep quiet. He became a witness in the investigation of Gialamas and Williams, and word apparently spread fast.

"I remember a sergeant drawing pictures of cheese on Post-Its and writing 'Crystal is cheese' and telling me that people are saying I snitched on Sgt. Gialamas," Crystal said.

Crystal kept a private journal detailing the taunting and harassment that he said came from four different supervisors and other officers.

"The detective pulls up and says, 'Hey, are you guys having a cheese party?'" Crystal said. "I didn't want any problems, and he said, 'What? I'm just asking whether you are having a cheese party. I know rats like cheese.'"

Crystal said he missed out on a new assignment to a different squad. He said a lieutenant told him why: "I have done big enough cases, good enough cases. For all intents and purposes, I should go to the squad, but it was perceived that I snitched on Sgt. Gialamas, and since I snitched on Sgt. Gialamas, I couldn't go. To be on that squad, you had to do things in the gray area, and this was going to follow me for my entire career."

Gialamas and Williams were criminally charged on Oct. 18, 2012. Crystal said the pressure mounted, and a sergeant called him at home.

"I was home with my wife, and he started screaming at me, telling me Gialamas is saying I am snitching and I am the star witness," Crystal said. "The punch line of it all: 'You better pray to God you're not the star witness.' He said it multiple times. When I hung up the phone, I said to my wife, 'I think he basically just threatened me.'"

Days later, Crystal said he was asked by a supervisor to change a date on a police voucher.

"When that happened, I was in panic mode because what I had believed was he wanted me to falsify these documents, and then he was going to be charged with falsifying a report or something like that," Crystal said.

In November 2012, Crystal went back to meet with prosecutors handling the police misconduct case. He said he told them he feared for his safety. Eight days after the meeting, Crystal found a rat on the windshield of his car.

"Its head was underneath the wiper blade, and it looked like the guts were ripped open," Crystal said. "The first thought was 'Oh (expletive).' I couldn't believe it was as bad as it was."

When asked if he had any doubt that the rat on the windshield was related to the Gialamas-Williams investigation, Crystal said no.

"I just felt it was people's way of telling me even more (that) nobody wants you here, leave," Crystal said.

Crystal testified against Gialamas and Williams. Gialamas was convicted of a misconduct charge, while Williams was convicted of an assault charge. No one was charged for the rat incident targeting Crystal.

The four supervisors who Crystal said taunted and harassed him are in their same jobs or better in the Police Department, Miller reported.

THE SOLUTION OR THE PROBLEM . WE BEGIN WITH THE INTERVIEW YOU WILL ONLY SEE HERE ON 11 NEWS. HE'S TELLING HIS SIDE OF THE STORY. IT UNCOVERS NOT ONE BUT MULTIPLE ALLEGATIONS OF WITNESS INTIMIDATION INSIDE THE BALTIMORE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT. JAYNE MILLER BREAKS THE STORY. WE WERE IN THE VIOLENT CRIME IMPACT SECTION. WE ARE NOT SHOWING HIS FACE. HE IS A KEY WITNESS AGAINST A SUPERVISOR AND A WHISTLEBLOWER. THEY CROSSED THE LINE IN OCTOBER 2011 IN EAST BALTIMORE. WITH THE REST OF THIS DRUG SUSPECT WHO HAD RUN INTO A HAS TO HIDE. WHEN WILLIAMS SHOWED OFF THEY ORDERED THESE AND TRANSPORTING TO STOP. GREEN WAS TAKEN BACK INTO THE HOUSE AND ASSAULTED. HE TRIED TO REPORT WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS WRONG. WHEN HE CALLED THE SERGEANT AS FOR VICE HE WAS TOLD TO KEEP QUIET. HE SAID IF THEY ASK YOU TO HELP BRING HIM INTO THE HOUSE TILL TOLD HIM THE TRUTH. DON'T TELL ANYTHING ELSE YOU HEARD OR SAW. THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO GET YOU TO RAT. HE BECAME A WITNESS IN THE INVESTIGATION. WORDS PRETTY FAST. THE SURGEON HAVE DRAWN PICTURES OF CHEESE SAYING THAT I SNITCHED ON THE SURGEON. HE KEPT A PRIVATE JOURNAL DETAILING THE HARASSMENT FROM FOUR DIFFERENT SUPERVISORS AND OTHER OFFICERS. THE DETECTIVE ASKED IF I WAS HAVING A CHEESE PARTY. I DID NOT WANT ANY PROBLEMS. HE MISSED OUT ON A NEW ASSIGNMENT TO A DIFFERENT SQUAD AND A LIEUTENANT TOLD HIM WHY. IT WAS BECAUSE I HAD AN SNITCHED AND I COULD NOT GO. YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO THINGS IN A GRAY AREA AND THIS WOULD FOLLOW ME MY ENTIRE CAREER. THEY WERE CRIMINALLY CHARGED ON OCTOBER 8 IN 2012. THE PRESSURE MOUNTED. HE STARTED SCREAMING AT ME BASICALLY SAYING HE SAID I WAS SNITCHING AND I'M THIS FAR WITNESS. I SHOULD PRAY TO GOD THAT I WAS NOT THE STAR WITNESS. I LOOKED MY WIFE AND I SAID HE THREATENED ME. DAYS LATER HE WAS ASKED BY A SUPERVISOR TO CHANGE A DATE ON A POLICE VOUCHER. I WAS IN PANIC MODE. HE WANTED ME TO FALSIFY DOCUMENTS AND I WAS GOING TO BE CHARGED WITH FALSIFYING A REPORT. IN NOVEMBER 2012, HE WENT BACK TO MEET WITH PROSECUTORS HANDLING THE CASE. SHE TOLD THEM HE FEARED FOR HIS SAFETY. EIGHT DAYS AFTER, HE FOUND A ROUTE ON THE WINDSHIELD OF HIS CAR. IT LOOKED LIKE THE GUTS WERE RIPPED OPEN. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS -- [BLEEP]. THAT WAS EAGLES WAY OF TELLING ME EVEN MORE. NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE. HE TESTIFIED AGAINST THE TWO. HE WAS CONVICTED OF MISCONDUCT IN WILLIAMS OF ASSAULT. NO ONE WAS CHARGED IN THE RAT INCIDENT TARGETING HIM. IN THE FOUR OFFICERS TAUNTED AND